Perak police have completed their investigations into the death of 62-year-old Gan Chin Eng, who died at Taiping Prison on Jan 17.
Gan allegedly died due to an abdominal injury caused by blunt trauma, which is claimed to have resulted from alleged brutality by prison wardens.
A spokesman from the state police headquarters said a murder investigation had been launched, and the investigation papers had been submitted to the state legal department.
“We have completed our investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code and are awaiting further instructions from the deputy public prosecutor’s office,” the spokesman said.
It is understood that the investigation papers were sent to the state deputy public prosecutor’s office earlier this month.
On Jan 25, Twentytwo13 was the first to report Gan’s death, which allegedly occurred on the same day as a riot in the prison.
Gan’s 19-year-old son previously claimed that prison authorities were not honest about his father’s cause of death. He said they initially told the family that Gan might have died from heart disease.
However, the coroner’s report stated that Gan died due to “abdominal injury caused by blunt trauma.”
Another alleged custodial death involving a 30-year-old inmate at Taiping Prison also surfaced last month.
M. Vijian died on Feb 15 at Taiping Hospital. His family claimed they were first informed that he had tuberculosis but later learned he also had two broken ribs.
Vijian, a labourer, was transferred from Batu Gajah Correctional Facility to Taiping Prison on Jan 16, just a day before 60 wardens allegedly beat up around 100 inmates, including Gan.
Lawyer Shamsher Singh Thind, who is holding a watching brief for Vijian’s family, said he wrote to Perak police to enquire about the status of the investigation.
“So far, we have not received any information from the police,” he said.
“The complainant (family) has a right to know the status of the case from the investigating officer. If there are no updates, we will write to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) soon.
“We hope the AGC will instruct the police to provide the family with status updates.”
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is also investigating the case. Both Gan and Vijian’s families have lodged reports urging the commission to investigate their cases.
Twentytwo13 understands that Suhakam officers visited Taiping Prison and Batu Gajah Correctional Facility between Feb 24-27 and March 10-14 for their investigation.
The commission’s scope of investigation includes the deaths and the alleged brutality that occurred in Taiping Prison on Jan 17.
A source said, “The team visited Batu Gajah Correctional Facility on Feb 24 and Taiping Prison twice (Feb 25-27 and March 10-14).”
The source also said the commission’s probe includes evaluating the prison’s conditions.
